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Feb 14, 2019

Israel refuses to let UN council visit Palestinian areas

UNITED NATIONS: Israel has refused to allow the UN Security Council to
visit the territory that the Palestinians claim for a future independent
state, UN diplomats said Wednesday.
Last week, the council authorized Its current president, Equatorial
Guinea’s UN Ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba, to consult the Israel and
Palestinian ambassadors about a trip.
Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour immediately responded, saying a council visit would be viewed “in the most positive way.”
But Kuwaiti Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi said Ndong Mba reported to a
closed council meeting Wednesday that “Israel categorically refused the
council visit,” though Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said the
government would welcome visits to Israel by individual ambassadors.
A council visit requires support from all 15 council members and
approval by the countries concerned. Several other members confirmed
Danon’s rejection.
Al-Otaibi, the Arab representative on the council, said he expressed
regret that the visit won’t take place, noting there have been many
requests for the UN’s most powerful body to visit the West Bank, Gaza
and east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as their capital — all
unsuccessful.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said there is no record of the Security Council ever visiting Palestinian areas.
“We want to continue our consultation,” Al-Otaibi said. “Hopefully we
reach a consensus, because we said this issue has been on the council
agenda for decades.”
“We want an official trip — this is what we asked for, not to go illegally or not to be invited as tourists,” Al-Otaibi said.
Equatorial Guinea’s deputy ambassador, Job Obiang Esono Mbengono, told reporters: “We’re still working on it.”
The Security Council asked the council president to meet the Israeli and
Palestinian ambassadors to discuss a visit after the United States
blocked an Arab-backed Security Council statement put forward by
Indonesia and Kuwait expressing regret at Israel’s suspension of an
international observer mission in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The Temporary International Presence in Hebron was established in 1994
following Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein’s massacre of 29 worshippers
at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city, which triggered riots
across Palestinian areas. The mosque is located at the site that is also
revered by Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Israel’s Danon accused the Hebron mission of acting as “a violent, biased” force, which its members strongly denied.https://www.geezgo.com/sps/53928